DANOS a Unified Network Operating System

The Linux Foundation Hosts ‘DANOS’ Project, a Unified Network Operating System.

The Linux Foundation announced the Disaggregated Network Operating System (DANOS) project to enable community collaboration across network hardware, forwarding and operating system layers. DANOS is initially based on AT&T’s “dNOS” software framework of an open, cost-effective and flexible alternative to traditional networking operating systems. As part of The Linux Foundation, it will incorporate contributions from complementary open source communities to build a standardized distributed Network Operating System (NOS).

NOS creation has historically been challenging due to the complexity and magnitude of software and hardware requirements — as each device in the network needs its own operating system. However, the growth of open source combined with advances in both software and hardware, has fostered an ecosystem of advanced networking applications, new and open technologies, and building blocks on which to host an open and flexible NOS.

“We are pleased to welcome DANOS to The Linux Foundation community of open, collaborative innovation,” said Arpit Joshipura, General Manager of Networking, The Linux Foundation. “DANOS will provide an open NOS framework that leverages existing open source resources and complementary platforms such as switches and white box routers. We invite others in the broader ecosystem to join the effort to accelerate innovation and creation of an industry-standard disaggregated NOS.”

“As far as we know, DANOS is an industry first: an open-source, carrier-grade operating system for wide area networks,” said John Medamana, Vice President, Packet Optical Network, AT&T. “DANOS is a milestone for us and the industry, and we’re excited to see how developers and other users implement and build upon it.”

Supporting Quotes:

• “The FRRouting team welcomes DANOS to the Linux Foundation,” said J.R. Rivers, CTO of Cumulus Networks. “With 3,413 commits from 68 authors and 42 organizations in the last year, the team continues to build the most full-featured, high-performance open routing stack available.”
• “On behalf of OpenSwitch I’d like to welcome DANOS to open source NOS and Disaggregated Networking,” said Alley Hasan, Board Chair, OpenSwitch, and Director, Strategy Networking Dell. “We look forward to the collaboration with DANOS on leveraging the work OPX has accomplished in order to drive more value for operators and to accelerate the adoption of composable networks.”
• “ONF has been a champion of disaggregation, white boxes and open source and in this regard, we are happy to see DANOS launched as a carrier-grade, open source network OS for white boxes,” said Guru Parulkar, Executive Director, ONF. “We are looking forward to DANOS and ONF’s recent open source platform Stratum, thin switch OS, working together.”
• “SDKLT is a revolutionary, feature-rich open source Software Development Kit, which enables a new approach to switch configuration,” said Eli Karpilovski, Director of Marketing, Switch Products at Broadcom. “Broadcom is thrilled to showcase how this mature switch SDK can advance Linux Foundation projects such as DANOS.”
• “We’re excited to see the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) as the hardware abstraction layer for DANOS, which will enable DANOS to work across the wide set of switches and switch ASICs that implement SAI,” said Dave Maltz, Distinguished Engineer, Microsoft Corp.

Partner Quotes:

• “Inocybe welcomes the DANOS project to the open networking community that we have been focused on expanding,” said Mathieu Lemay, CEO of Inocybe and OpenSwitch Board Member. “The DANOS project will help grow the network operating system community that will incorporate existing work we have accomplished in the OpenSwitch community and others like it. This collaboration will help drive innovation at the foundation of the network stack, and will drive acceleration of the adoption of open source networking software and white box switches.”
• “Juniper Networks has a longstanding commitment to the open source ecosystem through OpenContrail and is hyper-focused on disaggregation efforts to provide faster innovation for our customers,” said Bikash Koley, CTO and Executive Vice President at Juniper Networks. “We firmly believe that the way products are created and brought to market is rapidly changing and that openness and disaggregation will bring far greater economic and innovative strides to organizations. This is why Juniper intends to continue delivering on our promise of open and scalable networking options jointly through our work with the open community. We look forward to the community innovations that come out of the DANOS project under the Linux Foundation.”
• “Metaswitch is a committed supporter of the Linux Foundation’s DANOS project and AT&T’s dNOS software framework,” said Shriraj Gaglani, EVP of Business Development at Metaswitch. “Our carrier-grade routing and control plane protocols install and operate as binary applications on top of these open network operating systems to enable true software disaggregation. Together, this will increase reliability and flexibility for white box switching solutions while lowering capital and operating expenditures.”
• “Orange is pleased to take part in the definition of a single open Network Operating System, which will provide an opportunity to foster an ecosystem benefiting operators, vendors and customers,” said Christian Gacon, Vice President, Wireline Networks and Infrastructure of Orange Labs Networks. “We are convinced this initiative will allow operators to accelerate the development of new and relevant services for customers and to prepare the future of the network.”
• “Silicom is pleased and excited to take part in this important initiative, open designs and  integration of disaggregated deployments are a part of our strategy,” said Elad Blatt, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer at Silicom. “DANOS enables our Edge networking devices to be truly open and programmable.”

Code and collateral transitions are underway as the community begins to coalesce around the DANOS framework. A first code release is expected the second half of 2018. In the interim, more information about DANOS is available here. Details about AT&T’s initial dNOS framework are available via white paper: “Towards an Open, Disaggregated Network Operating System.”